The invention is directed to devices for coating print media.
It is sometimes desirable to coat printed media with a film of clear flexible material. Such coatings can be formulated and applied to help protect the printed image, enhance the printed image or provide a more uniform gloss level across the entire media (including both printed and unprinted areas).
Duplex printing in which printed images are applied to both sides of a sheet of paper or other print media is now very common. Many printers, copiers, multi-function peripherals and other printing devices offer duplex printing. Where a coating is desired on both sides of a sheet, such as might be the case with duplex printing, the sheet must pass through the coating module of a post print finishing device twicexe2x80x94once to coat the top of the sheet and once to coat the bottom of the sheet.
The commonly assigned patent application Ser. No. 10/280,989 filed on Oct. 25, 2002 and entitled, xe2x80x9cPrint Media Coating Device and Methodxe2x80x9d describes devices and methods for simultaneously coating both sides of printed media with a flexible film. In one design, the new two-side coating device is constructed as a modular unit installed in a post print-finishing device. One such finishing device is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this and other post print finishing devices that feature a coating capability, not all printed media sheets will be coated. It is desirable to minimize wear and tear on the coating device components by routing sheets that will not be coated around the coating device.
One embodiment of the present invention includes a housing, a first coating module supported in the housing and a second coating module supported in the housing. The first coating module is positioned on one side of a first/coating media path and the second coating module is positioned on the other side of the coating media path. A panel in the housing is positioned immediately opposite the outer shell of the second coating module to define a second/bypass media path that diverges from the coating media path and passes along the second coating module.
In another embodiment, the invention includes a first coating material web delivery system, a second coating material web delivery system, a fuser operative along a first media path between the first and second web delivery systems, and a second media path bypassing the fuser.